This invention relates to multisectional ladders and more particularly to a portable lightweight ladder which is attachable to a pole, tree or the like to facilitate the scaling thereof. The invention also relates to a method of scaling a pole, tree or the like utilizing such a ladder.
Scaling of poles, trees and the like is a problem encountered by many persons in their work and leisure. Linemen, for example, are often required to scale utility poles to repair telephone and power lines and hunters often scale trees to a tree stand. For such persons, speed, convenience and safety are all important features of any apparatus or method for scaling poles and trees. Particularly for linemen, the presently preferred method of climbing utility poles are leg irons. However, the use of leg irons requires a great deal of strength and skill and many injuries have resulted from their incorrect use.
In order to overcome the problem in scaling poles, lightweight portable ladders have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,714 issued to Brooks et al, discloses a multisectional ladder particularly adapted for scaling utility poles. The top section of the ladder includes a vertical spar at the top of which a crook-shaped arm and a yoke are hingedly mounted to form a tiltable harness which grips the pole. Y-shaped stabilizers project from the bottom of each section to support the sections at a uniform distance from the pole, the bottom section being supported completely off of the ground. The ground surrounding the pole plays no part in supporting the ladder. Adjustable straps spaced along the ladder are used for purposes of security.
The ladder disclosed by Brooks et al has limited flexibility in terms of the diameter and form of poles it may be used to scale due to the fixed angles and curves of the yokes and crook-shaped arm used to support the ladder. The ladder would also not be very useful for scaling most trees because branches of the tree could interfere with the raising of the crook-arm to the desired height. The ladder also has rather complex construction including a precision hinged open loop assembly including a bladec crook-arm, serrated yokes, and means for coupling the yokes and loop assembly to the spar. Also such a ladder has many parts extending from each spar making the ladder relatively cumbersome to carry or store.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome these and other disadvantages of prior portable multisectional ladders by providing a sturdy, lightweight, portable, multisection ladder which is compact for carrying and storage and permits one to quickly and safely scale any pole, tree or the like, and a method for using same.